DCHP-3

National Energy Program

DCHP-2 (Apr 2016)

Spelling variants:
national engery program, NEP

n. — Politics, historical

a defunct federal program that aimed to promote Canadian ownership of the oil industry and achieve oil self-sufficiency for Canada.

Type: 4. Culturally Significant — The National Energy Program (NEP) was introduced by the Liberals in 1980 as a response to surging oil prices in the late 1970s. The federal government hoped to ensure that Canada would not be dependent on foreign oil. When oil prices began to decrease in 1982, the purpose of the NEP was questioned, and the Progressive Conservatives dismantled the program following their 1984 election victory over the Liberals (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference and the 1985 quotation).
The NEP generated serious protest, especially in Alberta, which has a major oil industry. As natural resource management falls under the jurisdiction of the provinces, many Albertans perceived the NEP as an intrusion on provincial rights and felt that the program was designed to benefit central Canada (see Alberta Energy reference).
Around the same time that the NEP was proposed in Canada, American President Jimmy Carter addressed Congress to suggest a National Energy Program, or National Energy Plan, for the United States. National Energy Program did not originate in Canada, but it seems the impact and duration of the Canadian program eclipse similar proposed American programs and the controversy surrounding the NEP, especially in Western Canada, gave the term salience in Canadian political and economic circles (see, e.g. the 1995 and 2008 quotations).
See also COD-2, s.v. "National Energy Program", which is marked "Cdn".

Quotations

1975
My purpose tonight is to provide you with the background for these and other energy developments in the context of a national energy program. I speak to you at a time of fast-moving, often dramatic change in the world energy situation, at a time when the federal Government has not only been dealing with immediate problems, but also been putting into place the elements of a long-range energy policy. And at a time when there is much debate over the Canadian government's policies and intents.
1980
In a statement released yesterday, Trudeau said the cutback of up to 180,000 barrels a day in Alberta production "will impose major economic burdens on all Canadians" by "forcing us to import more costly foreign oil." Following is a partial text of the Prime Minister's statement: The national energy program tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday night had three goals: Energy security, opportunity and fairness. The people of Canada are aware that negotiations had been going on between the Government of Canada and the governments of the producing provinces for more than a year.
1982
This means the oil surplus situation has deteriorated drastically. In March, the surplus was 110,000 barrels daily, according to official estimates. Energy War Threat Last month, Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed threatened to renew his energy war with Ottawa if the problem was not solved. Ottawa's avowed goal with its controversial National Energy Program is oil self-sufficiency by 1990. The situation is desperate for many oil companies who have spent millions preparing to sell oil to the East that's not needed, industry spokesmen have said [...]
1985
On the one hand, Mulroney and his fellow ministers can take satisfaction in the fact that they have done some of the things they set out to do - end federal-provincial bickering; improve relations with the Americans; dismantle what they saw as the worst of the Liberal legacy - the National Energy Program and the Foreign Investment Review Agency; and reward "risk-takers" in the marketplace.
1995
The hated National Energy Program introduced in 1980 - when Prime Minister Jean Chretien was a senior Liberal minister - has not been forgotten in Alberta.
2008
The national energy program, blamed for ending Alberta's last energy boom, is still a fighting word.
2016
But Alberta's average annual unemployment rate shot up to an eye-popping 11 per cent in 1983 from just 3.9 per cent in 1981 as growing inflation, spiralling interest rates and the National Energy Program shelled the province.

References